Electrical signals can be used to produce a broad range of high quality, complex and very sophisticated music. Electrical signals generated by available equipment can produce sounds configured to resemble virtually any conventional musical instrument or an entire orchestra. The technology can be employed to overlay vocals with harmonie's and echoes and can configure the output to sound as if it were generated in different acoustic settings.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) circuitry and software defines an efficient and accepted electrical signaling system for generating music. However, the gallery of equipment that is required to accomplish the artist's chosen effects typically requires extensive up-front programming which requires a performer to employ a complex keyboard or other such computer hardware that limits the artist's ability to both extemporize and incorporate aesthetic body movements into a performance. Thus, an artist cannot reasonably change the musical response that will be generated from a particular electrical signal without having at his or her disposal one or more control devices that restrict movement. With conventional musical instruments this may not be a serious drawback. However, as explained herein, recent technological advances enable the artist to effectively become the instrument, thereby transcending the instrument art form to combine, for example, dance and instrumentation.
Technology is available for electronically identifying the position of a person's body or portions of the body and for measuring various movements of the body. These body measurement technologies have grown largely from research in aerospace applications, ergonomics and various computer control applications, some of which are geared toward entertainment. Body measurement systems that are available commercially or that are in the development phase employ optics, magnetics and/or properties of materials to determine the position of a selected body segment at a particular time. Computer technology is an important part of these systems since large amounts of data must be collected, stored and manipulated almost continuously to generate position tracking information that is representative of real time events. A control apparatus for electronic musical instruments that couples MIDI commands with motion signals is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,253 which issued to Downes on Oct. 11, 1988. Additionally, the August 1989 Edition of NASA Tech Briefs reported work by McAvinney using optical sensors as having a potential future application for converting dance motions into musical accompaniment. Similar work is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,560 which issued to Suzuki, et al. on Mar. 6, 1990 and which shows a musical tone control apparatus that is mounted on a performer's body. The apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,560 includes detectors mounted on a performer's arm for detecting bending angles of the performer's joints. Additionally, a musical tone control data generating circuit is worn on the performer's waist for generating musical tone control data based on output signals of the first and second detecting means. The tone control data generating circuit worn on the performer's waist is merely operative to receive signals from the performer's joints, and does not enable improvisation.
NASA Tech Briefs (August 1989), CADalyst (December 1989), and Rolling Stone (June 1990) have reported on a Data Glove and a Data Suit developed by VPL Research which rely upon optical sensing means to leasure hand and body positions. Still further, DISCOVER: The World of Science (Show #503) reported a glove developed at Stanford University that relies upon a metallic fabric that measures changes in its own electrical resistance as movement alters the shape of the glove. A similar concept has been employed in the Power Glove which was reported in Design News (December 1989) wherein a conductive ink is used to measure changes in hand movements. Additionally, LaCourse of the University of New Hampshire refers to a suit identified as the Actimeter, which employs mercury switches to measure body movement. These various prior art devices that employ gloves or body suits to generate electrical signals indicative of position or motion generally have been used for ergonomic studies and for non-verbal communications. These prior art devices are not intended to enable the person wearing the glove or body suit to effectively reprogram the signals he or she is producing.
In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a process and an apparatus for the orchestration of electronic output signals that can subsequently be converted into sound.
Another object of the subject invention is to provide a process and apparatus that enables a performer to encode and/or use instructions that affect electrical signals generated by the performer's actions.
A further object of the subject invention is to provide a process and apparatus that enables a performer to produce at least a first set of signals in response to a first set of body movements and positions, and at least a second set of signals in response to a second selected set of body movements, such that the second signals may be operative to alter the first signals.
Yet another object of the subject invention is to provide an apparatus and process for generating instructional information to control the orchestration of electronic output signals generated by the motion or speech of a person with MIDI configured sound generators.